Will on Ice
'''Will on Ice '''is the 11th episode of the first season. American figure skater Rudy Galindo makes a cameo appearance. Will asks his two best friends Jack and Grace to bond for his birthday. Grace, in turn asks Will to get to know her assistant Karen. Synopsis For his birthday, Will asks for a quiet dinner with his friends Grace and Jack. Grace, however, expresses how she thinks Jack does not particularly like her and that they are only interact because of Will. As a present for him, Will requests for the two of them to get along and she agrees to try over dinner. Things get unexpectedly tense when Jack acts cold towards Grace, as according to him, he is "sorta not into her right now". That is, until they find out that both him and Grace are die-hard fans of competitive figure skating. With this as a common interest, the two finally are able to bond, which pleases Will. Jack is also able to get tickets for Champions on Ice at Madison Square Garden before Will's birthday dinner. While trying to have a reservation for the dinner, Grace is forced to invite Karen, who is well-connected to the luxurious Balthazar restaurant. Will then expresses how he and Karen do not really have anything in common but reluctantly agrees for the sake of dining at Balthazar. On Will's actual birthday, he and Karen begrudgingly go to see Champions on Ice with Jack and Grace. However, Will leaves in the middle of the event. Grace later finds him sulking at the apartment. Will laments that he still puts everyone else's happiness before him even on his birthday and always ends up disappointed. Before he goes off to bed, Grace gives him a cowboy cake, something he wished for on his 8th birthday but never got. Cast Main * Eric McCormack (Will Truman) * Debra Messing (Grace Adler) * Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) * Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) Guest * Rudy Galindo (Himself) * Chuck Roy (Popcorn vendor) Notes * This is the first episode to feature all four main characters in one story line. Cultural references * Will laments how he was feeling old, saying he woke up one week from his birthday as Aristotle "Ari" Onassis, the second husband of Jackie Kennedy, who was 23 years her senior. As Onassis was a shipping magnate, Will does an impression of him by saying "Jackie, get on the boat" in Greek accent. * Grace describes Will's sad 8th birthday story as "so Party of Five", after the 90s family drama series. * While playing "Love/Hate Him", Will and Grace decide they hate actress Jada Pinkett. During season 9 pilot episode, they reaffirm this while playing Heads Up! and Pinkett's (now Pinket Smith) name comes up. * Grace and Jack mention the recent loss of Michelle Kwan during the 1998 Winter Olympics where she placed behind Tara Lipinski. They also discuss French skater Surya Bonaly, who became the first and only skater to land a backflip (which is illegal) in a competition. * When Jack gets tickets to Champions on Ice, Will indifferently refers to it as The Ice Capades, a precursor to Champions on Ice which closed down around 1995. * At the skating event, Will mentions that he does not want to get too close to avoid "sequin blindness", poking fun at the fact that most figure skating costumes are glittery and full of sequins. Media Ep 01 11.jpg Ep 01 11-0.jpg Ep 01 11-1.jpg Ep 01 11-2.jpg Ep 01 11-3.jpg Ep 01 11-1525142131.jpg Ep 01 11-1525142142.jpg Ep 01 11-1525142151.jpg Ep 01 11-1525142161.jpg Ep 01 11-1525142171.jpg Quotes Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Category:Birthday episodes